In an address to the opening of a permanent exhibition of IRGC Aerospace Force achievements, Major General Salami said the IRGC will never stand idle when it comes to the enhancement of defense capabilities.

“We won’t stop generating power, and will acquire the techniques and formulas for the promotion of science and technology to defend our country’s vital interests and values,” he underscored.

He also hailed the products put on display at the IRGC’s National Aerospace Park as a reminder that Iran has turned the sanctions into an opportunity and has made rapid scientific and technological progress in the defense industry.

A range of homegrown military products and advances in the missile, air defense, drone and aerospace industries have been put on display in the park.

The IRGC’s new naval ballistic missile, “Zolfaqar Basir”, has been put on display in a permanent exhibition of the achievements of the IRGC Aerospace Force that was inaugurated on Sunday morning.

Known as the latest version of a new generation of ‘Persian Gulf’ missiles, Zolfaqar Basir has a range of above 700 kilometers and its warhead is equipped with an optical seeker.

The range of the IRGC’s previous naval missiles, Persian Gulf and Hormuz, was around 300 and 250 km respectively.

The ground-to-ground version of Zolfaqar missile has a range of about 750 kilometers. It was used in an operation against Daesh terrorists in Syria in October 2018 and in a missile attack on the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in Iraq in January 2020.

Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran’s defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations.

Back in February 2018, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called for efforts to maintain and boost Iran’s defense capabilities, hitting back at the enemies for disputing the country’s missile program.

“Without a moment of hesitation, the country must move to acquire whatever is necessary for defense, even if the whole world is opposed to it,” Ayatollah Khamenei said at the time.

The National Aerospace Park is a permanent exhibition of the achievements of the IRGC Aerospace Force.

The park was inaugurated on Sunday morning in a ceremony attended by IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami, IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

Homegrown military products and advances in the missile, air defense, drone and aerospace industries have been put on display in the park.

In February, IRGC Aerospace Force commander said Iran has acquired the know-how to guide solid-propellant missiles outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

The new technology allows for the navigation of spacecraft, satellite carriers and anti-air defense missiles in the outer space.

“We have reached the pinnacle of defense technology despite the sanctions,” General Hatami said on Thursday, during a speech in the northwestern province of Zanjan.

He highlighted Iran’s progress in the defense industry under the pressure of the sanctions, saying more than 90 percent of the country’s military and defense needs are supplied locally at present.

Ever since the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, the United States and its allies have been taking the country under indiscriminate economic and trade sanctions.

The US lifted the nuclear-related ones among the bans after the conclusion of a multi-national nuclear accord between Iran and world powers in 2015. In 2018, however, it unilaterally and illegally left the deal and returned the sanctions.

Over the past years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing military equipment and hardware despite sanctions and economic pressures imposed on the country.

In a statement on the occasion of the anniversary of passing away of Imam Khomeini, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said the Iranian Armed Forces are fully prepared to counter threats and respond to hostile measures.

The Iranian military forces are vigorously protecting the country’s independence, territorial integrity, and national security, the commander said.

Under the guidance of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Armed Forces are sticking to a strategy to “boost deterrent power, maximize defense capacities, and update the offense tactics proportional to potential threats posed by the front of enemies,” the senior commander added.

Major General Baqeri further gave an assurance that Iran’s military forces remain vigilant at all times to deal with the modern seditions and plots against the Islamic Republic. “As we have announced several times, we will decisively and immediately give a retaliatory response to any miscalculation from them (enemies) at any place and any time.”

He also highlighted the failure of the “front of hegemony, Zionism, and the filthy regional reactionary” regimes to harm the Islamic Republic and the Revolution during three decades after passing away of Imam Khomeini, saying their full-blown media wars, cultural onslaught, economic threats and wars, military threats, and psychological warfare against Iran have all ended in failure.

The top commander then pointed to Iran’s strategy of “active and progressive resistance, not stationary and passive resistance”, saying such an approach has led to the formation of resistance groups in the Islamic world and the victory of resistance front in West Asia.

Major General Baqeri went on to say that the active resistance has defeated the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group and Takfiri terrorism, thwarted the evil plots of the “Greater Middle East” and the “Deal of the Century”, and has turned the US withdrawal from the region into a regional and international demand.